Three Pieces of Paper
by Mrs Bella Riddle
Summary: Druella once had three beautiful daughters. One by one she lost each one. Written for the Mother's Day Contest at HPFC


Written for the Mother's Day Content at HPFC. Enjoy

* * *

Druella had always known it was her task to carry on the great pureblood lines. When she was a young girl her mother and aunt had raised her to respect and cherish that duty. Her mother entered into negotiations with the influential Black family and, before the arrangements were even finalised, Druella took the initiative and she and Cygnus started courting.

Cygnus was a lovely man. Every year she was married to him made her affection for him grow. She did not often express how much she cared for him, but, in the privacy of their bed when his arms were around her and she felt his heart beat against her own she was sure she loved him.

She went on to give him children. She should have given him glorious sons to carry the Black name.

She failed.

In 1951 she gave birth to the screaming and dark haired child who, from the moment she entered the world, was Bellatrix; their female warrior.

Two years later she hoped they could fix their failure and she could give birth to a baby boy. She failed. Instead she was blessed with the lighter haired and a quieter Andromeda; her princess who would never be chained.

They tried only one more time.

In the summer of 1955 the blonde haired flower Narcissa entered the world. She should have been angry and disappointed at her failure. She was not. With the angelic face and pale colourings that resembled Druella so much, her ice could only melt when she stared at her baby.

So, blessed with three beautiful daughters she tried to make them perfect pureblood ladies.

She only succeeded with one daughter.

Narcissa took to etiquette and feminine sensibilities in a way that mimicked Druella when she was her age. Andromeda was not necessarily as enthusiastic, but she was a good and dutiful girl who did what she was asked.

Bellatrix did not. She laughed into her face, threw fits and just generally refused to listen to her.

Still that was not the way she lost her daughters.

She lost them in other ways.

* * *

In the winter of 1973 it happened the first time. Her middle daughter had normally been a good girl. She did what she asked and, even if she sat in the corner more than Druella would have preferred, she always did what was required.

Mostly.

There was an occasion after Andromeda graduated Hogwarts that she insisted on entering Healer Training. Druella was not too impressed, though she was assured by her daughter that she still intended to marry. She insisted her life would be filled with dual roles.

Grudgingly, Druella accepted.

She wished she had not. She was sure the mudbloods and blood traitors her daughter worked with had poisoned her against her family. They had tainted her and forced her to break her mother's heart.

Druella's perfectly manicured hands quivered around the parchment. She had read the words thousands of time, almost as if she expected the neat and curly writing would twist and spell out something else.

They did not.

Andromeda was gone. One of her little girls was gone. She had been taken by a mudblood.

Sitting in an armchair by the unlit hearth, she sat upright and stared straight ahead like a corpse. Her face that was covered in foundation and rouse was ashen and her blue eyes were bright, though there were no traces of tears.

She could never cry.

Not now. Not ever.

She had to be strong. Cygnus was. Cygnus was hunting for her and the mudblood who had kidnapped her. Bellatrix was even helping him.

Druella was not doing anything.

She was only mourning.

Water built up in the corners of her eyes, yet she blinked rapidly forcing it to yield to her ice.

She would be strong. She still had two daughters. She would stay strong for them.

She had to.

She always had to be strong.

* * *

In the winter of 1982 she lost her second daughter. Perhaps it would be wrong to say that she lost Bellatrix for the first time in 1982.

Druella had probably never possessed her in the first place.

From the moment she was born, Bellatrix was Druella's opposite. Where Druella had blonde hair and blue eyes, Bella was blessed with inky black locks and eyes that were almost as black. Where Druella was always cool and composed, Bella was fiery and passionate. Where Druella preferred to sit quietly or play music, Bella was always running wildly, with curses blasting from her wand and a gleam in her eyes.

When Bella was young, Druella had tried to teach her the right way to behave. She had given her silk and lace dresses, but she would only find that in a few hours they were torn, ripped and covered in dirt and grit. She had then attempted to sit her before a piano or an easel with a tutor. It failed and she would always return to find Bella had dashed off without a care in the world.

As Bella grew older she only became more rebellious. Druella felt like she was constantly tearing her hair out. She was extremely relieved when Bellatrix was safely married to Rodolphus and she felt that she might finally behave.

She might have. Druella just did not know see her often enough to learn the truth.

Sitting alone in what had been the bustling family dining room, the full English breakfast was abandoned as her eyes were peculiarly focused on the paper clutched tightly in her hands. She was never one to often read the newspaper; she often just glanced at it briefly before she pushed it to the side.

That morning she could not tear her eyes away. She could not stop looking at the article and the picture.

Her daughter.

Bellatrix stared back at her with wide and manic eyes, tangles of hair, a face contorted into a mad scream and dressed in stripped and tattered prison robes. It was all set before a headline- _'Death Eaters Still Amongst Us. Aurors Tortured Into Insanity'._

She had suspected her daughter may have joined with the Death Eaters, but it still shocked her to her very core. Now she would spend the rest of her life rotting away in Azkaban.

She had lost her forever.

Lifting her cup of tea with trembling hands she attempted to not whimper.

At least she still had her darling Cissy.

* * *

However, throughout it all, Druella was sure she would still always have her precious Narcissa. She mourned the loss of Andromeda, Bellatrix and even Cygnus.

All she had left was Narcissa who could never do any wrong. She was the perfect lady, she married Lucius Malfoy and she gave him a son; her only grandchild.

Narcissa always did what she was asked. She never changed and she would never leave. Every Sunday it was the same. She would come for tea precisely on time and never a minute later.

One Sunday in 1985 Druella clutched a paper in her hands. After one glance she could not look anymore. Her eyes were frosted with tears that ran down her eyes and smeared her meticulous makeup. Before she could help herself, she turned and threw the letter into the fire.

It had only been a note saying Narcissa could not come for lunch, but she knew what it meant.

All of her daughters had gone.

Narcissa did not have time to spend with her mother. She had her own family now so Druella could never be a priority for anyone.

She was alone.


End file.
